Canadian mother Rebecca Cannon covered her daughter in aerosol sunscreen to protect her from the sun. But 14-month-old Kyla still suffered from serious burns—just not the kind Cannon was worried about.

Cannon had purchased an aerosol can of Banana Boat Kids Sunscreen (SPF 50). The product is labeled as "tear-free" and OK to use on children over the age of six months. Cannon said she followed the instructions—spraying the sunblock onto her hands before applying it to her daughter's face. But something still went wrong. Kyla developed what look like second-degree chemical burns on her face after wearing the sunscreen. Cannon claims that the burns came from the product itself—not the sun.

"[I] want everyone to know Kyla is back home after another hospital trip this morning," Cannon wrote in a Facebook post. "Please watch and be careful when using aerosol sunscreen!" Cannon also reassured her Facebook followers that Kyla was recovering—and doing so with a smile on her face. "We work diligently to provide high-quality Banana Boat sun protection products and we are greatly concerned when any person encounters a reaction using our products," Edgewell Personal Care, the company that produces Banana Boat sunscreen, said in a statement responding to Cannon's claims. "We have spoken with the consumer and asked for the product so that our quality assurance team can look into this further."

Rachael Prete, M.D., a pediatrician at Orlando's Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, tells SELF she's never seen a patient who's had a negative reaction to sunscreen as severe as Kyla's. But in her experience—both as a mother and a pediatrician—it's true that some sunscreens may contain ingredients that can irritate or hurt a child's skin, if that child has particular sensitivities. "Even if it says it's made for sensitive skin, my kids would scream bloody murder when they were little and I'd put certain sunscreens on their faces," Prete says.

For sun protection, there are two different kinds of sunscreens: barrier sunscreens and chemical sunscreens. Barrier sunscreens contain minerals like titanium dioxide and zinc dioxide, which keep UV rays from penetrating the skin. These ingredients act like a physical barrier between the rays and the skin—which is why they're often thicker and can leave white residue behind when you try to rub them in. Chemical sunscreens, on the other hand, work by converting UV rays into heat and letting your skin release that heat. These are easier to spread, and they're the kind you'll find in aerosol cans.

Prete hasn't treated Kyla, but she suspects the 14-month-old may have had a negative reaction to one of the chemicals in the sunscreen. Many children—including her own—are sensitive to chemical sunscreens, and her guess is that Kyla may have been unusually sensitive to it.

When you see news like this go viral, it's totally normal to worry about chemical sunscreens and your own kids. But you should know that reactions this severe are incredibly rare, and many kids are able to use chemical sunscreens without any trouble at all. There are also things you can do to keep your kids safe. For starters, if you know your kid has sensitive skin, you shouldn't assume that products that say "sting free," "burn free," or "tear free" will be pain-free for your own child. (These sunscreens may still contain chemicals that can cause a reaction—even if you take care to use them correctly and carefully, like Cannon did.)

If you don't know if your child has sensitivities to chemical sunscreens and you're open to finding out, you may want to do a test run first—well before you're planning to go anywhere that would necessitate using sunscreen. Place a little bit on a child's face to see see how they react. If they're in pain, stop—there's probably an ingredient in there that's irritating their skin. If not, you can use the product, because not all children are going to have a bad reaction to ozybenzone or other chemicals. (Note: Be sure to test the product on your child's face—not their shoulder or some other body part. According to Prete, the skin on the face is thinner and more sensitive than the skin on other body parts, so it's important to test the product there.)

All that being said, Prete (and many dermatologists) recommend barrier sunscreens over chemical sunscreens anyway—both because barrier sunscreens are more effective and because some people experience irritation with chemical sunscreens. But as a mother living in Florida, Prete understands it can be difficult to use barrier sunscreens 100 percent of the time. "If you live in Florida, like we do, the sun is inevitable," she says. "And barrier sunscreens aren't always as convenient as chemical sunscreens are." For one thing, you have to reapply barrier sunscreens more frequently. "Your kids are running around in water all day long," Prete explains. "Then you have to pull them out of the pool, dry them off because they're soaking wet, and reapply the sunscreen." Doing that several times in one swimming session can be challenging and time-consuming—not to mention, it takes a while to rub barrier sunscreens in. Compare that to can of spray-on sunscreen that lasts several hours, and it's little wonder people default to using the chemical brands.

Moral of the story? Be realistic. "I only use barrier sunscreen on my kids' faces," Prete says. "But when I know we're going to be at the beach all day, I use a chemical sunscreen on their bodies." She explains that in these cases—where it's a serious challenge to correctly wear and reapply barrier sunscreen all day long—she'll use chemical sunscreen. If you don't experience irritation with chemical sunscreens, they're absolutely better than not wearing sunscreen at all. And you can take other steps to keep your children sunburn-free, too. Prete recommends keeping them in the shade—especially between the peak sunny hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. You can put your kids in hats, long-sleeve sun shirts, and light pants.